Born in Utrect in 1834, Pieter Cornelis Dommersen was born into a highly artistic familyin Holland. Dommersen moved to England at the end of the 19th century. His brother Christian C. Dommersen was a marine painter and his son Raymond Dommersen was well known for his paintings of the Dutch waterways.

Dommersen is recognized for marine and coastal paintings. His excellently rendered compositions capture the atmosphere exquisitely, may it be traumatic seas and raging skies during a storm or serene waters and harbour scenes. His painting combines a mastery of light, shade and depth with an ability to paint figures, ships and water. He also painted some Dutch street scenes which are quite rare and usually much admired.

He exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of British Artists, Suffolk Street between 1865 and 1878. He died in 1908 at the age of 85.